


Holes In a Tin Can

by thedovahcat



Series: The Run-Arounds [6]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Gen, I don't know what you'd call it, pseudo kind of death, the shock and awe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-05
Updated: 2017-02-05
Packaged: 2018-09-22 07:06:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9590003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedovahcat/pseuds/thedovahcat
Summary: On the way to the settlement, our trio runs into a warehouse full of cans. And a couple of Institute synths. And a good heaping helping of plain old bad luck.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I blame sparrowhaven for making me want to hurt characters.

The door slammed hard against the cracked plaster of the wall so hard that a bit of the ceiling crumbled and landed in flakes on top of their heads.

Hancock pulled off his hat and gave it a good dusting, Nick doing to same with his own simultaneously. Cat did nothing of the sort.

She put her foot back onto the ground slowly, wincing at first and then resting her hands against her hips. “And THAT'S how you open a door! One swift kick and, KAPOW!”

Nick pinched the bridge of his nose. “It was probably unlocked if it came open that easy, detective.”

“Humor me here Valentine. You're the detective, not me.” Cat rolled her eyes.

The ghoul only laughed. “Maybe, but that WAS pretty cool. I'd've done the same thing.”

“See? SOMEONE APPRECIATES ME!”

Nick sighed loudly as they continued into the lobby of the cannery. Along the way to the settlement he'd spoken of earlier, they'd run into what they at first assumed to be an abandoned warehouse. A sign just off the road a few miles back clarified that it wasn't just ANY warehouse, but one with potentially lots and lots of cans of who knows what. Food preferably. It was worth the risk anyway; they were just about out of stuff to eat. Not that Nick needed to eat, but the other two did.

A desk with a computer sat in the middle of the room. Broken or worn down sofas and chairs spotted the sides, a few empty plant pots stood in the corners, and the wallpaper was virtually peeling off nearly everywhere they looked. One of the lights flickered menacingly, but all in all, the place remained rather quiet.

“I'm surprised I don't see garbage all over the place...aside from the usual amount that is.” The detective muttered, leaning down and picking up a dented, beat up aluminum can before tossing it aside.

“What makes you say that?” Cat was already near one of the sofas, stepping onto it and jumping up and down. “Hey these still have some spring in 'em!-”

“I SAY that because raiders is why. You've seen how they leave their trash everywhere. And you can usually hear them too.”

Hancock snorted a little as he circled around the desk to look at the computer. He tapped at one of the keys, but all that came up was a password login screen. “True. Color me a lil' surprised that we haven't seen any around a place like THIS. I mean, if I were a raider that read 'cannery', provided I COULD read (and I can,) then I woulda come sprinting to this place and holed myself up for a good long while. There's supposed to be a lotta good eatin' in joints like these right?”

“Well not if they're canning motor oil and other things. I don't think you can eat THOSE.” Nick answered flatly.

The ghoul shook his head. “Even if I were high, you couldn't get me to try that. Anyway...let's go have a look around. Might find somethin' useful in all this junk. Cat! C'mon! Get off that thing.”

Cat jumped off the sofa and back onto the floor, moving on ahead to the pair of doors that lay behind the desk, presumably leading into the inner parts of the factory. “Think they'll have that stew-flavored dog food?”

“You, kitty, are crazy. …But I do admit that stuff's pretty good...”

“Uh-” Nick raised his metal hand at them to stop them, but they were already halfway across the room. His finger joints refused to move. All the rain had slowly been taking its toll, rusting up little parts here and there. “Before you two go running off to look around for who knows what, make sure you check it out first-”

“Just incase of danger blah blah blah, I know Nick! Besides, I got this guy here to watch my back, what could POSSIBLY go wrong?” Cat ignored the synth's half-pleas and attempted to kick the door open again. It didn't work, and there was only a loud slam. “OW ow- DAMN IT-”

“Hancock-”

“I got it, keep yer trench coat on. Ain't nobody here. We'll be fine... Ok, my turn.” As soon as Cat moved aside, the mayor ran at the door and delivered a much stronger kick, successfully bursting through.

Nick's eyes remained half-lidded for the entire display. “You're gonna alert the whole damned Commonwealth if you keep at it with the amount of noise YOU'RE making.”

“Well then we better hurry on up inside! You gonna stay out here?” Cat turned and glanced over at him briefly while Hancock went ahead.

The detective paused for a moment, then looked down at his hand. “Yeah, I'll be there in a moment.”

Cat shrugged as she left. “Suit yourself!”

With another sigh, he went over to one of the chairs and sat in it heavily, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a little screwdriver.

“Always the rain with you...Pretty soon all the bolts are gonna be falling out.” Nick grumbled to himself as he retightened everything again. Even he hated to admit that his body was just getting old. Falling apart even. Once the stuff he called skin started peeling and breaking along the seams, he stopped caring about how he outwardly appeared (not that he ever really cared, but still.) If anything, it only became a bit of a nuisance because a good amount of the inner workings of his face and neck were exposed to potential enemies and the weather. Every now and then he could feel his jaw go stiff, or his neck, or some other part.

He flexed his fingers a few times, making sure each one of them worked. They were still a little reluctant, but they worked all right. That would have to do.

The screwdriver went back into his pocket in exchange for his lighter, and a cigarette from the other side of his coat. Once he had that, he got back onto his feet and went looking for the other two.

Inside the main building, past the doors, the place rather eerie in terms of the lighting. Half of the facility was covered by darkness and there'd be the occasional emergency wall light to break things up, giving little parts of the massive room these warm orange glows. Some of them even flashed on and off softly and slowly, almost like fireflies during a summer evening.

Nick paused briefly, only long enough to wonder why he'd thought of that specific image of all things. Probably just some memory that wasn't his. He shook his head lightly and kept walking.

“HEY HANCOCK, find anything yet?!” Cat called out as she pulled her head out of a box and tossed it onto the floor before moving to the next one.

“Uhh-” The mayor cringed a little as he opened pulled open another cardboard box, only to find a dead radroach in it. “Not really! Just a lotta crap and empty cans but otherwise no like...FOOD.”

The girl scowled and stood back to look at the scene, eyes narrowed. “There's gotta be something here... Doesn't look like anybody's been in here in ages...”

Hancock came over to her. “Well unless the place has been raided already. Doesn't look like it though, there are still boxes with tape on 'em and stuff. Why would anybody go wasting tape for that?” He slowly reached for his gun and made no sudden moves. The realization only hit him now.

Cat watched him, brows furrowing in concern now. Neither of them said a word for a long moment.

“Hear anything?” She asked quietly.

“...Nah... But I'm startin' to feel real uneasy. We should go get Nick n' get outta here... We'll just wait until we get to that settlement.”

“...Yeah, yeah ok, fine.”

The two abandoned their search and turned to head back the way they'd come. As soon as they stepped out from behind one of the big processing machines, Hancock's arms immediately came up and he nearly pulled the trigger.

Nick did the same with his pistol. “Son of a-”

“DAMN IT NICK! You scared the shit outta me! I coulda taken your metallic head off!”

“That makes two of us.” They lowered their weapons. “I'm ALMOST comforted to know that you don't have trigger happy reflexes.”

Hancock frowned. “Yeah, lucky you in that case. We can't find anything in here. The boxes are all-”

“They're all like taped up and filled with junk like someone did it on purpose! Why would anybody do that?”

Nick pursed his lips a bit, finding the situation to be more than suspicious. “What? I don't know. But if that's the case, I don't want to stay to find out. Let's get the hell out of here already. Rain or not, it's probably not a good idea to stick around a place like this.”

They hadn't gone two steps when a small, nearly undetectable sound hit Nick's audio sensors. Even Hancock would have been hard pressed to hear that tiny metal clink against one of the catwalks hanging above them.

In one swoop, the synth spit out his cigarette, swung his arm out and wrapped it around the mayor and their charge, and pulled them in between one of the big machines. “Don't move.”

None of them spoke as they strained to listen for any kind of noise.

At first there was nothing, and then they started to hear it. Something else walking around somewhere in the factory. Something that wasn't them. 

Cat stayed squashed in between them while the mayor and the detective gave each other a knowing look. They had to somehow get out of the building without being spotted, or heard. And it couldn't be through the front door in all likelihood.

They started to inch in tandem carefully towards one of the far walls. There had to be a back door somewhere. There always were other exits in places like these for shipments to go out, for emergencies, or for just plain old convenience.

As they shuffled along at a snail's pace, Nick kept his eyes on the catwalks above them. He could have sworn he saw something up there. A light moving in the black void.

“Hello?” As soon as that computerized voice rang out abruptly into the factory, they all stopped cold.

Other synths. From the Institute no doubt. There had to be more than one here, they never came alone.

Hancock swallowed the lump in his throat, resisting the urge to just jump out and start shooting. He wasn't going to be scared off by these boogeymen. Not by a long shot. But he also knew he didn't have just himself to think about either. He looked over his shoulder a few times, trying to find any way out before spotting an exit sign with an arrow pointing down another hallway.

He elbowed Nick, then turned his attention to what he'd seen. The detective nodded and began herding them in that direction.

The moment they reached the halfway mark, a bright blue blast from a laser flew past them and hit the wall, melting a small crater into it. Another synth stuck its head out from in between one of the huge canning machines and stared right at them with glowing white eyes. “Stop.” It commanded.

“Shit- MOVE!” Nick gave them all a good shove before the idea of running even hit their heads.

“Are you KIDDING? You're just gonna LET 'EM GO WITHOUT A FIGHT?” Hancock spun around as soon as they reached the exit sign and ran into the new hallway, ready to take aim at the synth running at them. He could see a two others jump down to the ground floor in the back somewhere.

“NOT today.” Nick grabbed the back of his ragged coat and forcefully yanked him back.

At the end of the hallway Cat slid to a stop and frantically turned her head back and forth in both directions. The hall split off into other passages, without another exit in sight. “Which one?!”

They all hesitated for a second or two before the detective once again pulled them down one of the corridors as soon as the other synths started to appear behind them. Even he didn't know where they were going. He just hoped that there was another door somewhere inside.

Several more laser beams hit the walls beside them as they ran. Little offices and closets dotted the sides, until they spotted another exit sign pointing them out of the labyrinth of a factory.

Luckily for them, the emergency fire escape door was just a few feet away from the indicating sign.

“That thing looks like it hasn't been used in ages- I don't think I can kick THAT-” Hancock blurted out. Another laser nearly brushed past his back and he spun around, growling. “Nick, get it open, I'll cover us.” He raised his rifle and fired a few shots. “YOU WANT SOME OF THIS? COME AND GET IT!”

One of the pursuing synths received a direct hit in the chest before falling onto the ground, little more than a malfunctioning mess. Its companions pressed on, unfazed.

Cat moved closer to Nick as he tried to get the door open. “They're COMING- HURRY UP!”

“I can't-” The lock was jammed real good. There'd be no sweet talking this one. Nick gave up and took a couple steps back, running at the door before giving it a hard kick himself. The thing flew open and almost tore off the hinges. “HANCOCK, FORGET ABOUT THEM! LET'S GO!”

“JUST ONE MORE SHOT-” The mayor fired again and hit the second synth, leaving only one more remaining before one of the lasers grazed his upper arm. He gave a loud yelp before turning and following after the others.

On the outside it was still raining, just like it had been when they had arrived, but nobody cared about that now. If they had to run across the soggy and muddy hills of the Commonwealth to get away from that thing chasing them, then so be it.

“Go on- go-” Nick stopped and let them run ahead of him before following. He knew there'd be no place to take cover and hide should that thing start shooting at them again. Unfortunately for them, it did.

Cat screeched as one of the beams nearly hit her foot. “NICK-”

This had to end.

The detective slid to a stop and whirled around, reaching for his pistol with his metal-claw. All he had to do was fire one shot into that thing's head and they'd be rid of it.

Everything happened in a flash and almost in slow motion at the same time. His arm came up, his finger curled around the trigger and he could see the synth barreling up the hill they had just climbed, raising its own weapon to him.

But his fingers wouldn't move. They locked up again and stood still.

“N-No-”

Before he could do anything about it, the opposing synth fired a blast right into his chest, the energy sailing right on through him and out the other side.

“NO-” Cat stopped running and Hancock spun around, loading one more bullet and aiming at the enemy synth's pristine white head. He fired, and took it off with one clean shot.

As it fell to the ground, Nick followed suit, landing heavily onto his knees, his yellow eyes flickering.

“NICK- HEY-”

“NICK-”

It was a bizarre sensation, feeling everything go dark at a rapid pace. His visual sensors shut off first, and all the control he had in his limbs seemed to just vanish. He hit the floor and only then did he realize this was bad. Real bad.

“N-...no-” He repeated. Why did his fingers have to lock up right then and there? Why didn't he tighten those stupid bolts more? Or oil the damned things?? How the hell was he going to protect anybody now?

He never knew such questions could run through his head. Would the real Nick have done the same? Maybe.

The last sensory function to shut down was his hearing. He had caught little pieces of their voices before everything went silent all together, but his brain hadn't really been able to decipher it. Before everything ceased to even exist he felt his lips move but he didn't hear anything he said.

“Not...not like... Not like this...”


End file.
